1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an exterior case of an electronic appliance, in particular, to an exterior case of an electronic appliance which permits the cost reduction for an exterior case of an electronic appliance such as a digital camera and the like, and satisfactory protection of the electronic appliance.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, an exterior case of an electronic appliance such as a digital camera is formed of a metal or a hard resin for the purpose of protecting the internal components of the appliance. In such an exterior case, a case body is composed of a front case portion and a back case portion, both of which are screwed to each other to encase the internal components. A grip of the exterior case is separately formed of a soft resin for the purpose of preventing slipping and improving the touch, and is attached onto the case main body.
When an electronic appliance such as a digital camera and the like is laid on a table, there is a fear that the electronic appliance will come down or fall off the table owing to vibration and the like. In order to protect electronic appliances from the adverse effects due to such happenings, some appliances are provided with the measures for vibration absorption. The measures for vibration absorption is effected by attaching members formed of a rubber or a soft resin onto the case body.
As for the above-described exterior case, it is necessary that parts are separately fabricated and the parts thus fabricated are assembled; this leads to the problem that the production cost is raised and additionally the assembling work becomes intricate. There is an additional problem that the measures for vibration absorption and slipping prevention further raise the production cost.
Incidentally, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 7-40960 discloses a plastic container with a hinge for encasing food and the like wherein the main body and the lid are integrally molded into one piece through the intermediary of the hinge; however, there has been found no exterior case of an electronic appliance encasing the internal components thereof wherein the two divisions of the case are integrated into one piece through the hinge interposed therebetween.
An object of the present invention is the provision of an exterior case of an electronic appliance, wherein the production cost reduction can be brought into effect through reduction of the number of parts and reduction of the number of assembling steps.
Another object of the present invention is the provision of an exterior case of an electronic appliance, wherein both vibration absorption and slipping prevention can be achieved simultaneously.
Yet another object of the present invention is the provision of an exterior case of an electronic appliance, wherein the battery and the recording medium used in the electronic appliance are detachable.
An exterior case of an electronic appliance is required to have the strength, shape, and function for protecting the internal components of the electronic appliance, to be excellent in operational functionality, and to have excellent quality in design. Conventionally, an exterior case of an electronic appliance has usually been formed with separate parts which are fixed by using screws, by welding, by adhesive bonding, and by the like ways.
In the present invention, the separate parts, each formed of a hard resin or a soft resin according to the function of the part, are connectively assembled and molded into one piece. The resins may be distinguished by allotting different colors to the resins to effect the two-color molding. It is recommended that, according to the functions required for the respective parts, a hard resin is used for the parts required to have sufficient strength, and on the other hand a soft resin is used for the bending parts, operating parts, shock absorbing parts, slipping preventing parts, and the like. It is preferable that such movable parts as bending parts, operating parts, and the like are formed of a soft resin and are made thin partially. Such an integrally molded article as described above is molded by using a mold fabricated on the basis of the developed shape of a box-shaped case. After a case has been molded, the internal components are incorporated inside the case, and the bending part is bent inward to form a finished product.
In the instance of an exterior case of an electronic appliance where a battery and a recording medium are detachable, it is recommended that a receding part for housing the battery and a receding part for housing the recording medium are formed of a hard resin.
In order to attain the above-described objects, the present invention is directed to an exterior case of an electronic appliance, the exterior case comprising: a first case part and a second case part as two divisions of the exterior case, the first case part and the second case part being formed of a first resin; and a connecting part which connects the first case part and the second case part, at least a part of the connecting part being formed of a second resin softer than the first resin, wherein: the first case part, the second case part and the connecting part are integrally molded by one of a two-color molding and an insert molding with the first resin and the second resin; and the first case part and the second case part are assembled into a case-like shape by bending the part formed of the second resin in the connecting part.
According to the present invention, the exterior case is molded as a one-piece part by the two-color molding or insert molding with a hard resin (the first resin) and a soft resin (the second resin), wherein the hard resin ensures the strength for protecting the internal components of the electronic appliance, and the soft resin ensures the flexibility of the connecting part, thus assembling of the exterior case being made possible. The formation of the exterior case as a one-piece part makes it possible to reduce the number of parts, the cost allotted to the parts, and the number of assembling steps.
Preferably, the part formed of the second resin in the connecting part has a thin part to be bent.
The soft resin can be utilized not only for forming the connecting part, but also for forming the outside layer partially covering the portion made of the hard resin for the purpose of slipping prevention, design upgrading, or shock absorption. Furthermore, every corner or every face of the exterior case may be covered with parts formed of the soft resin so that the whole electronic appliance may be protected.
According to another embodiment of the present invention, a projection is made of the soft resin on the bottom face part of the exterior case, or the bottom face part is wholly covered with the soft resin, wherein the portion made of the soft resin is made to operate as a vibration absorbing member or as a slipping preventing member.
The formation of the soft resin projection in the bottom face part of the exterior case or the formation of the soft resin layer all over the bottom face part makes it possible to absorb the vibration affecting the electronic appliance and to prevent slipping when the electronic appliance is laid on a table or the like. Since the above-described hard resin portions and soft resin portions are formed by the two-color molding or the insert molding, the vibration absorbing member is not necessary to be formed in a special and separate process, and accordingly the operation for fixing the vibration absorbing member to the exterior case is unnecessary.
As a further other mode of utilization of the soft resin, an opening is formed in a part made of the first resin in the exterior case at a position corresponding to an operation button of the electronic appliance; and the opening is closed with the second resin to be a part of the operational button.
According to this mode, it becomes unnecessary to prepare a part (a key top or the like) of a button as an independent part.
According to yet another embodiment of the present invention, the electronic appliance is a digital camera having an optical member; and an opening is formed in a part made of the first resin in the exterior case at a position corresponding to the optical member of the digital camera, a border of the opening being covered with the second resin. Consequently, the optical member of the digital camera such as a taking lens and the like can be protected.
According to another embodiment of the present invention, a battery is detachably attached to the electronic appliance; and a receding part for housing the battery is integrally molded in at least one of the first case part and the second case part.
According to yet another embodiment of the present invention, a recording medium is detachably attached to the electronic appliance; and at least one of a receding part for housing the recording medium and an opening through which the recording medium is inserted and pulled out is integrally molded in at least one of the first case part and the second case part.
Herewith the receding part for housing the battery and/or the receding part for housing the recording medium is also integrally molded, so that the number of the parts in the electronic appliance can be further reduced.
As the hard resin, ABS resin, polycarbonate resin, and the like can be applied, and as the soft resin, an elastomer resin and the like can be applied.